Credit where where credit is due -- per AP's Linda Johnson (via the Washington Post online edition):
. . . .Merck & Co. is giving $350,000 in cash to help fund emergency response units, blankets, clean water, temporary shelter, food and medical supplies. It plans to ship $200,000 worth of its medicines, including ulcer drug Pepcid, Coricidin cold medicine and ringworm treatment Lotrimin. . . .
Note however, that Amgen has already donated about seven times more than Merck -- $2 million in cash (contrast this with Merck -- again, more than half of Merck's donation is in the form of products, likely valued at U.S. retail prices, for the purpose of counting "donation" value -- but actually costing Merck far less -- essentially the raw materials value). Glaxo has also out-donated Merck, thus far -- four to one -- a spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline PLC said it sent medicines worth roughly $1.2 million -- mainly oral and topical antibiotics including Augmentin.
2 comments:
Dude, what is the problem? This is like the guy begging on the corner throwing back 4 quarters because he wants paper! While it may not be the most at least it is something.
I guess it surprises me that, although Merck is now the second largest pharmaceutical concern on the planet, by revenue and market cap, behind only Pfizer (which also donated many multiples of what Merck did, BTW). . . and, as a company that makes a very large share of its profits and revenue outside the US. . .
AND, as a company that makes many antibiotics. . .
It only donated a small amount -- the disaster is, for all intents and purposes, on our front door-step.
Moreover, the current New Merck donation is dwarfed by the "Old" Merck donation to the 2004 Phuket tsunami relief efforts (Merck & Co. donated $3 million in cash) -- and that was half a planet away. In Haiti, Merck is donating about one-tenth of the 2004 amount.
But you have a point -- everything helps -- it is just a question of how much.
Namaste
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